Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Edmonton Drillers Custom Fitted

The NASL edition of the club was brought to the city by Peter Pocklington during the peak of the league's success, which was in turn built upon the previous success of Brian Rice's Edmonton Black Gold (1978). The Drillers played from 1979 to 1982, helmed by Timo Liekoski. During their outdoor season, their home fields were Commonwealth Stadium and Clarke Stadium, while indoors they played at the Edmonton Coliseum. Previous to playing in Edmonton, the team was known as the Oakland Stompers, Hartford Bicentennials and Connecticut Bicentennials.

As the Edmonton Drillers, their outdoor team were characterized by a strong defensive style of play, but their indoor style was built upon a run-and-go style of attack. Attendance for the outdoor games ranged greatly from 10,000 in the early stages of the franchise to 4,000 per game in 1982. By comparison, the more successful and profitable indoor games had attendances ranging between 5000 to 7000 paying fans per game in 1981 and 1982